Claus and Effect by Piper Rayne

Author:Piper Rayne [Rayne, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piper Rayne, Inc.

Chapter Sixteen

Tessa

We sit down at Reindeer Diner, every set of eyeballs in the place following us.

“This town is nice but kinda weird,” I whisper across the table to Tre.

He lowers his menu. “After this whole Santa and Mrs. Claus thing, we’re outta here.”

“You already know what you’re getting?” I ask, still perusing the menu for some diner food I haven’t eaten yet on this road trip.

“Patty melt.”

My eyes widen, and he chuckles. I will say the longer we’re on this journey, the more he’s loosening up.

“It’s been a long few days, and I don’t have any willpower right now. It took everything in me not to climb over that counter and beat the shit out of Rowdy and his sidekick.”

“Because they delayed us another day?”

He looks at me for a long moment, holding my gaze. “No. Because I worried they did something to you. Please tell me they didn’t. Were you given the privacy of changing in another room?”

I bite my lip to stop from smiling at his protectiveness. It shouldn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I’m an independent woman, after all. But a man who goes rogue on those who hurt you is kind of sexy.

“Yeah, they seemed to have more hate for you. I think I was just the bait, and I played right into their damn hands. Probably wished it was you they could arrest.”

“If we see them tonight, they better keep their distance.”

Luckily, the waitress comes over to take our order. It’s clear she knows who we are, but she’s pretending she doesn’t, even though she refers to everyone else in the place by name. We give her our order and sit in silence for a moment.

“Can I ask you a question?” It’s clear from his tone that his question isn’t of the “what’s your favorite color” variety. Ever since our talk in bed last night, I’m not really up for a heavy conversation about me.

“What do you want to know?”

“The bakery. I just wondered if you went to culinary school. What kind of stuff did you bake?”

I unravel my paper napkin and place my silverware on the table rimmed in aluminum. “I did go to culinary school, but I ended up dropping out. And my vice is sugar, as you know, so I made cookies, cupcakes, cakes, any type of dessert really.”

“I wish I could have tried some.” He smiles.

“No, you don’t,” I say and shake my head. “Obviously they weren’t so good that people couldn’t get enough of them, or else I’d still be in business.”

“There’s a lot that goes into a business failing. It’s not always about the product.”

“Do we have to talk about me?” I practically grab the coffee pot from the waitress and pour my own cup just to distract myself when she comes by.

“Not if you don’t want to. Want to ask me something?” He sips his black coffee.

“Sure. How upset are you that we’re not on our way to Portland again? You must blame me.” I frown, guilt settling on my shoulders.

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